Aeroplane



Aug. 5, 1930. F. KERTES Z 1,772,396

AERQPLANE I Filed D60. 1929 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY Aug. 5 1930.

F. KERTESZ 1,772,396

AERQPLANE Figled Dec. 6, 1929 7 Sheets Sheet 2 ATTORNEY Aug. 5, 1930. F.KERTESZ 1,772,396

AEROPLANE Filed Dec. 6, 1929 77 Sheets-Sheet ATTORNEY F. KERTESZAEROPLANE Aug. 5, 1930.

7 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Dec. 6, 1929 ATTORNEY Aug. 5, 1930. E I 1:772396AEROPLANE Filed D60. 6; I 1929 7 Sheets -Sheet 5 F-. KERTESZ AEROPLANEATTORNEY Aug. 5, 1930. F. KERTESZ AEROPLANE Filed Dec. 6, 1929 .7Sheets-Sheet 7 Patented 5, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT} OFFICE MKKER'IEBZ, OF PO'I'TSTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA.

AEROPLANE Application med December 6, 1529. Serial no. 412,204.

rearward vertically arranged rudders and forward and rearward pairs ofhorizontally arranged rudders, each pair of rudders being driven bya'power plant, with means for controlling the pitch of the blades of thepropellers to enable the plane to move vertically and horizontally.

This invention also consists in certain other features of constructionand in the combination and arrangement of the several parts, to behereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawingsand specifically pointed out in the appended claims. g

In describing the inventionin detail, reference will be had to theaccompanying drawings wherein like characters denote like orcorresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which Figure 1is an elevationof the improved craft, with parts broken away.

Figure 21s a top plan view thereof.

Figure 3 is a front view.

Figure 4 is a section on line 44 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a section on line 5--5 of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a section on line of Figure 4.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary plan view of one of the vertical propellersand its associated parts. 7 Figure 8 is a section on line 8--8 of Figure7.

Figure 9 is a section on line 9-9 of Figure 8.

Figure 10 is anend view ofone of the clutch members.

Figure llis a partial view of one of" the propellers, showing the ribbedface of the holders for ,the blades thereof.

Figure 12 is an edge view of Figure 11.

Figure 13 is a section on line 13-13 of Figure 12.

Figure 14 is a view of the ribbed face of the member to which theholders of the blades are pivoted. I

Figure 15 is a section on line 1515 of Flgure 7.

Figure 16 is a detail sectional view showing one of the covering meansused to cover the exposed parts.

Figure 17 is a detail sectional view showing how a power plant issupported.v

Figure 18 is a view of one of the levers.

,In these drawings, the letter A indicates the fuselage of the craft,which is provided with the landing wheels 1, the windows 2 and the doors3. The tail part of the fuselage carries the usual vertical andhorizontal rud ders 4 and a wing 5 is suitably attached to the fuselagein spaced relation from the top thereof, as shown in Figures 1 and 3.Four transverse supports 6 are suitably attached to the top of thefuselage .and project beyond the sides of the same, two of thesesupports being arranged under the side edges of the wings, with anothersupport arranged adjacent the front end of the fuselage and the fourthsupport arranged adjacent the rear end thereof.

A power plant and its housings are sup ported by the right hand ends ofthe mlddle supports, as shown generally at 7, and a similar power plantassembly is supported by the left hand ends of the middle supports, as

shown at 8. Each power plant assembly includes a shaft 9 driven from thepower plant and. having a-hub 10 at each. end thereof which is formedwith a head 11 at its outer end, the outer face of each head having aplurality of ridged ribs 12 thereon, the grooves ,formed by the ribsreceiving the ridged ribs 13 formed on the pair of holders 14 to each ofwhich a propeller blade 15 is attached by the bolts 16. The ribs of thetwo holders 14 are pivotally connected with the ribs of the head by apin 17 passing through the centers of the ribs so that the two holdersare supported for rocking movement on the head and thus the pitch of thepropeller blades can be varied. A link 18 is pivoted to each holder andthese links extend through the notches 19 arranged at opposite sides ofthe head 11 and are pivoted to opposite sides of the flange of a slidingcap-20 on the hub 10 of the shaft 9.

A rod 21 is slidably arranged in each bearing part 22 of the power plantassemblies and the hub 23 of a fork 24 is fastened to the outer end ofthe rod, the fork engaging a groove 25 in the member 20, so that whenthe rod 21 is moved inwardly, the fork will move the member 20 in thesame direction and thus the links 18 will be caused to tilt thepropeller blade holders on their pivots 17 to change the pitch of theblades.

A shaft 26 is journaled on each middle support 6 and has an arm 27 ateach .end thereof which is connected by a link 28 with a projection 29on the hub 23, so that when the shaft 26 is rocked, the member 20 andits associated parts will be slid in one direction or the other tochange the tilt of the blades. The rear shaft 26 is connected by a link30 with a hand lever 31 arranged in the fuselage, so that bymanipulating this hand lever, the blades of the rear vertical propellerscan have their .pitch changed The front shaft 26 is attached by theconnections 32 to a lever 33, so that by manipulating this lever, thepitch of the blades of the forward vertical propellers'can be varied. Aswill be seen, the same power plant operates a forward propeller and arearward propeller.

A power plant assembly, shown'generally at 34, is supported by the endsupporting members 6 and the shafts 35 of these assemblies are connectedby the beveled gears 36 with the vertical shafts 37 which drive thehorizontal propellers 38, one of which is arranged at each end of eachforward and rearward supporting member 6. The blades of each propellerare connected in the same mannor with the heads of the shafts, as beforedescribed, so that the blades can havo th eir pitch changed and theforks 39 for shifting the members 20' of each pair of propellers 38 areconnected by the links 40v with the arms 41 on a shaft 42, the shaft 42for the front set of propellers being attached by the connections 43with a hand lever 44, while the shaft 42 for the rear set of propellersis attached by the connections 45 with a hand lever ,6 so that bymanipulating these hand levers 44 and 46, the pitch of the blades of thepropellers 38 can be changed, as before described. I

'prefer to place the levers 44 and 46 close together, so that they canbe manipulated by one hand, when desired.

The gears 36 are enclosed by thehousings 47 and all exposed parts arecovered by canvas or the like, as shown at 48 in Figure 16. The supportsfor the motor assemblies are connected together at their inner ends bythe trough-shaped parts 49, as shown in Figure 17, so that portions ofthe motors extend into the trough-shaped member.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided two pairs ofvertical propellers and two pairs ofhorizontalpropellers, the propellersbeing arranged at the sides of the fuselage, with the wing 5 arranged ona plane which is substantially the same as the plane of the top of thecircular path of the vertical propellers, as shown in Figure 1. Eachpair of propellers is driven from one power plant-and the pitch oftheforward pair of vertical propellers is controlled from a single lever,thepitch of the rear pair of vertical propellers being controlled fromanhorizontal propellers being controlled by a third lever and a fourthlever controllin the pitch of the blades of the rear pair of orizontalpropellers.

When the pilot wishes to takeoff, all the propeller blades should beplaced in neutral position. Then the four motors are started. After thepropellers reach a high speed, the lever 31 is moved back with the righthand and the lever 33 moved forwardly with the left 'hand. These actionswill place the blades of the forward vertical propellers 15 in aposition where they will tend to move the craft forwardly and the tworear propellers 15 will be tending to move the craft rearwardly. Thusthe craft is prevented from moving either forwardly or rearwardly andthe air from the four propellers is compressed and forced up under thewing, which tends to lift the craft. Then the two levers 44 and 46 arepulled backwardly at the'same time, which will move the horizontalpropellers 38 into operative position, and these propellers will movethe craft upwardly. If the craft does not move upwardly on an even keel,the blades of the propellers38 can be adjusted by the hand levers sothat the uneven pull can be adjusted, so that the craft will assume aneven keel as it moves upwardly. When the craft reaches the desiredheight, the control stick is grasped by the left hand and the lever 31by the right hand and then said lever 31 is moved forwardly a certaindistance to reverse the blades of the rear propellers 15 so that thesepropellers 'will act with the front propellers 15 to drive the craftforwardly. The machine will now' levers 44 and 46 and pushes such leversforwardly until all four lifting propellers 38- are in neutral position.The craft-now 1s traveling forwardly and allthe pilot has to do is'totend to hisregular controls. It is preferable to have all four liftingpropellers rotate at high speeds atall times in neutral position becausein this position, they give the machine a greater liftingcapacity andbalance it better without hindering its flight.

When the plane is flying at high speed, the two motors operating thelifting propellers can be reduced in speedto save fuel, but

- they should never be stopped entirely. When it is desired to land thecraft, the propellers '15 are set as in rising so that they will workagainst each other and drive the air under the wing and the liftingpropellers are set.

at such a pitch as to permit the craft to move downwardly slowly andthus land without damage. When in flight and it is desired to fly atlowspeed, the rear propellers 15 can I be set so that they will pullbackwardly can learn to fly easier with this improved aeroplane thanwith the old type because the learner has more time to think and itis-not necessary to travel at high speed.

Each of the levers 31, 33, 44 and 46 is preferably arranged as shown inFigure 18.

Gas and oil tanks 50 are located at the bottom of the fuselage. A vacuumtank 52 is located at the centerof the wing, as shown in Figure 1, andacts to distribute the gas from the gas tank to the motors.

It is thou'ght'from the foregoing description that the advantages and-novel features of the invention will be readily apparent.

It is to be understood that changes may be made in the construction andin the combination and arrangement of the several parts, provided that[such changes fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is 1. An aeroplane comprising a fuselage, a wing connectedwith the fuselage above the same and spacedtherefrom,supportingmeansextending laterally from the sides of the fuselage at the top thereof, apair of lifting propellers at each end of the front supporting means, apair of lifting propellers at each end of the rear supporting means,front and. 'rear vertically arranged propellers supported from the endsof the middle supporting means, power means for driving each pair ofpropellers and means for changing the pitch of the propeller bladeswhereby the plane can be caused to move vertically and horizontally.

*. 2. An aeroplane comprising a fuselage. a

wing connected with and supported above the fuselage, four transversesupports connected with the top of the fuselage, a lifting propeller ateach end of-each of the front and rear supporting means, alongitudinally extending shaft supported at each end of the middlesupporting means, a propeller, at each end of each shaft, saidpropellers being vertically arranged, a power plant for driving eachshaft, a power plant for driving each pair of lifting propellers,manually operated means for adjusting the pitch of the blades of eachpair of lifting propellers, manually operated means for adjusting thepitch of the forward driving propellers and manuallyoperated means foradjusting the pitch of the rearward driving propellers.

3. An aeroplane comprising a fuselage, a

wing connected with and suported above the fuselage, four transversesupports connected with the top of the fuselage, a lifting propeller ateach end of each of the front and rear supporting means, alongitudinally extending shaft supported at each end of the middlesupporting means, a propeller at each end of each shaft, said propellersbeing vertically arranged, a power plant for driving. I

each shaft, a power plant for driving each pair of lifting propellers,manually operated means for adjusting the pitch of the blades of eachpair of lifting propellers, manually operated means for adjusting thepitch of the forward driving propellers, manually operated means foradjusting the pitch of the rearward driving propellers, each of suchmeans including a hand lever arranged in the fuselage, with the handlevers which control the pitch of the blades of the liftingpropellersarranged close together so that they canbe manipulated by one hand, whendesired.

4. An aeroplane'comprising a number of I lifting propellers, a pairof'forward driving propellers, a pair of rearwardly driving propellers,power means for driving the propellers and means for adjusting the pitchof the blades of each propeller, such means comprising a ribbed head onthe end of each propeller shaft, said ribs being ridged, a pair of bladeholders for the blades of each propeller, ridged ribs on each holder,the ribs on the holders fitting between the ribs on the head, a centralpivot pin passing. through the ribs for pivotally connecting the holderswith the head, a sliding member on the shaft, links connecting oppositesides of the sliding member with opposite sides of the holders, wherebysliding movement of the member will cause the holders to pivot on thehead and manually operated means for moving the sliding members.

5. An aeroplane comprising a fuselage, a wing supported from and abovethe fuselage, a pair of transverse supporting members connected with thetop of the fuselage and arranged under the front and side edges of thewing, a power plant assembly longitudinally arranged and supported ateach endof said pair of supporting members, said assembly including ashaft, a propeller on each end of each shaft, whereby the two propellerson each shaft are driven from the power plant, a transversely arrangedsupporting member adjacent the front" of the fuselage, a similar memberarranged adjacent the rear of the fuselage, a power plant assemblycarried by each supporting member, each assembly including a shaft, avertical shaft at each end of each front and rear supporting member,gears connecting the vertical shafts with the power plant shafts, ahorizontal propeller driven from each vertical shaft, manually operatedmeans for adjusting the blades of each pair of horizontal propellers,manually operated means for adjusting the blades of the forward drivingpropellers and manually operated means for adjusting the blades of therearward driving propellers.

6. Anaeroplane comprising a fuselage, a wing supported from and abovethe fuselage, a pair of transverse supporting members connected with thetop of the fuselage and arranged under the front and side edges of thewing, a power plant assembly longitudinally on each shaft are drivenfrom the power plant, a transversely arranged support ng member adjacentthe front of the fuselage, a similar member arranged adjacent the rearof the fuselage, a power plant assembly carried by each supportingmember, each assembly including a shaft, a vertical shaft ateach end ofeach front and rear supporting member, gears connecting the verticalshafts with the power plant shafts, a horizontal propeller driven fromeach vertical shaft, manually operated means for adjustin the blades ofeach pair of horizontal prope lers, manually operated means foradjusting the blades of the forward driving propellers, manuallyoperated means for adjusting the blades of the rearward drivingpropellers, horizontal and vertical rudders at the rear end of thefuselage, means for controlling the same from the interior of thefuselage, tanks in the bottom of the fuselage for oil and gas, a vacuumtank connected with the under part of the wing for distributing gas romthe gas tank to the motors and covering means for those parts of thedevice which are exposed.

In testimony whereof I affix mysignature.

FRANK KERTESZ.

arranged and supported at each end of said pair of supporting members,said assembly including a shaft, a propeller on each end of each shaft,whereby the two propellers on each shaft are driven from the powerplant, a transversely. arranged supporting member adjacent the front ofthe fuselage, a similar member arranged adjacent the rear of thefuselage, a power plant assembly carried by each supporting member, eachassembly including a shaft, a vertical shaft at each end of each frontand rear supporting member,

gears connecting the vertical shafts with the power plant shafts, ahorizontal propellerdriven from each vertical shaft, manually operatedmeans for adjusting the blades of each pair of horizontal propellers,manually operated means for adjusting the blades of the forward drivingpropellers, manually operated means for adjusting the blades of therearward driving propellers, horizontal and vertical rudders at the rearend of the fuselage and means for controlling the same from the interiorof the fuselage.

7. An aeroplane comprising a fusela e, a.

wing supported from and above the fuse age,

a pair of transverse supporting members connected with the top of thefuselageand arranged under the front and side edges of the wing, a powerplant assembly longitudinally arranged and supported at each end of saidpair of supporting members, said assembly including a shaft, a propellerat each'end of each shaft, whereby the two propellers

